This week one of the things that I would like to talk about is the Argentine regime of the 1970s and 1980s, where there were widespread protests due to the disappearance of various individuals as a result of their perceived dissidence against the state’s authoritarian government. What intrigued me about this was the prominent involvement of women within political affairs during this time, a rejection of gender norms even as the reasons for their involvement reinforces it, as they were mainly made up of mothers whose children had disappeared (‘Mothers of the Disappeared’) and were searching for answers as to what had happened to them/where they were. The insistence of these women in their protest against the regime was admirable, furthermore, the ways in which they channelled their grief into action – action that arguably had significant consequences within the political fabric of Argentina (e.g. mobilizing foreign nations to get involved). What particularly intrigued me about this was how to protests haven’t stopped, and how to this day, there are mothers who are still hoping to find closure, who haven’t stopped looking. The new political agency of women, though borne out of negative events is interesting because it creates a different dynamic within Latin American society with regards to the changing role of women.
I also found the war on drugs particularly fascinating this week as many of its themes are still relevant in the world today. However, it’s interesting to examine how the drug trade at the time contributed to the economy as exemplified by the line “at a time when the economy was worse than anyone could remember, they may have been the most important source of export revenues in the entire region” in the Dawson textbook. The drug trade also seemed to contribute to the larger society in many different aspects. Though their activities were illicit, they contribute to their communities by building schools, hospitals, housing, and other infrastructure. Drug kingpins were the quintessential janus figure that’s unable to be clearly categorized into good and bad – bringing us back a full circle that we’ve talked about the entire semester, this idea of ambiguity surrounding Latin America and the peoples within it.
My question for discussion is week is whether the Mothers of the Disappeared movement would have gained as much momentum as it did if the government had regarded it as a threat from the start?
Thank you for reading!
Hi! Great post! I think that the mother’s of the disappeared is a really tricky movement because from my experience as an Argentine-born, its a subject that a lot of people do not want to talk about because it was a national massacre and a complete embarrassment. I definitely do not think that the movement would have gotten as much national and international attention if it had been regarded as a threat, but it was something that even a military government could not cover up because that would bring some really negative press. I think the aftermath of the disappeared is really what is interesting, that movements like “Nunca Mas” came from them but that police investigations into the disappearances have not been very thorough..
I think La Madres de la plaza were a great example of the positive effects of gloablization. Without the international support and outcry against the Argentinian government’s regime. I don’t think they would have had as much of an effect. I think that if the government had seen the movement as a threat from the start, the protestors would have also disappeared as well. By the time they began giving serious attention to the mothers, it was already too late as they had caught the eye of the international community